The present invention relates to the provision of telecommunication services.
Those skilled in the art will recognize that telecommunication service providers often employ a network interface device or other demarcation device at a subscriber premises. The network interface device generally is designed to serve as an interface between the customer's premise wiring (or other local communications media) and the provider's network. In the past, network interface devices have been fairly unsophisticated, merely providing a hard-wired connection between the premise wiring and the provider network, and have generally been located at the exterior of the subscriber premises, in order to allow the provider's technicians or contractors to access the device for maintenance, upgrade and/or troubleshooting purposes.
Recently, however, telecommunication services have become more sophisticated, and the provision of such services has led to the use of more sophisticated components within a network interface device, and indeed, more sophisticated network interface devices themselves. Examples of such devices (and their components) are described in detail in the following U.S. patent applications, the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes: the '364 Application (already incorporated by reference); U.S. application Ser. No. 10/676,418 filed Sep. 30, 2003 by Phillips et al. and entitled “METHODS, SYSTEMS AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING URGENT PUBLIC INFORMATION”; U.S. application Ser. No. 10/377,282, filed Feb. 27, 2003 by Casey et al. and entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DISPLAYING DATA OVER VIDEO”; U.S. application Ser. No. 10/356,688, filed Jan. 31, 2003 by Phillips et al. and entitled “SYSTEMS, METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING A PLURALITY OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES”; U.S. application Ser. No. 10/356,338, filed Jan. 31, 2003 by Phillips et al. and entitled “CONFIGURABLE NETWORK INTERFACE DEVICE AND SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ITS USE”; U.S. application Ser. No. 10/367,596, filed Feb. 14, 2003 by Casey et al. and entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DELIVERING A DATA STREAM TO A VIDEO APPLIANCE”; U.S. application Ser. No. 10/367,597, filed Feb. 14, 2003 by Casey et al. and entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING APPLICATION SERVICES”; U.S. application Ser. No. 10/377,290, filed Feb. 27, 2003 by Phillips et al. and entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR FORMING PICTURE-IN-PICTURE SIGNALS”; U.S. application Ser. No. 10/377,283 filed Feb. 27, 2003 by Phillips et al. and entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MONITORING VISUAL INFORMATION”; U.S. application Ser. No. 10/377,584 filed Feb. 27, 2003 by Phillips et al. and entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DELIVERING PICTURE-IN-PICTURE SIGNALS AT DIVERSE COMPRESSIONS AND BANDWIDTHS”; U.S. application Ser. No. 10/377,281 filed Feb. 27, 2003 by Phillips et al. and entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING AND DISPLAYING PICTURE-IN-PICTURE SIGNALS”; U.S. application Ser. No. 10/444,941, filed May 22, 2003 by Phillips et al. and entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING TELEVISION SIGNALS USING A NETWORK INTERFACE DEVICE”; U.S. application Ser. No. 10/448,249, filed May 22, 2003 by Phillips et al. and entitled “METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR DELIVERING A COMPUTER DATA STREAM TO A VIDEO APPLIANCE WITH A NETWORK INTERFACE DEVICE”; U.S. application Ser. No. 10/624,454, filed Jul. 21, 2003 by Casey et al. and entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR INTEGRATING MICROSERVERS WITH A NETWORK INTERFACE DEVICE”; and U.S. application Ser. No. 10/676,429, filed Sep. 30, 2003 by Phillips et al. and entitled “METHODS, SYSTEMS AND APPARATUS FOR SELECTIVELY DISTRIBUTING URGENT PUBLIC INFORMATION”; U.S. application Ser. No. 01/715,879, filed Nov. 17, 2003 by Phillips et al. and entitled “FIBER OPTIC INTERNET PROTOCOL NETWORK INTERFACE DEVICE AND METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR USING THE SAME”; U.S. application Ser. No. 10/854,738, filed May 25, 2004 by Casey et al. and entitled “ALERT GATEWAY AND METHODS” ; and U.S. application Ser. No. 10/854,774, filed May 25, 2004 by Casey et al. and entitled “METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR PROVIDING DATA TRANSMISSION OVER MULTIPLE MEDIA” (attorney docket no. 020366-090400US).
As disclosed in the above applications, for example, these sophisticated network interface devices often comprise components that operate optimally under controlled environmental conditions. Merely by way of example, a network interface device designed to provide communication with a provider's fiber network often will have an opto-electrical converter that requires electrical current to function. This electrical current may be provided by the provider's network and/or by an electrical source at the subscriber's location (such as a connection to the subscriber's household A/C supply, etc.). Those skilled in the art will appreciate, however that, even in the presence of such electrical supply, it may be necessary to include a backup electricity source (such as a battery, capacitor, etc.) to provide backup electrical supply in the case of electrical failure, for instance to provide “life-line” telephone service to the subscriber premises. Such backup electricity sources often function optimally under controlled environmental conditions (relatively constant temperature, humidity, etc.). For example, common batteries generally will provide relatively lower output under relatively low temperatures. Conversely, relatively high temperatures adversely affect the operational life of such batteries. Likewise, other electrical and/or optical components can suffer degradation of performance and/or reliability when exposed to uncontrolled environmental conditions typical of an exterior location.
One solution would be to place a network interface device comprising such components inside a subscriber premises, to take advantage of the controlled environmental conditions of the premises interior. This solution, however, prevents access to the provider's personnel to perform troubleshooting, maintenance and/or upgrades, in the event a subscriber is absent or refuses admission to the provider's personnel. Thus, there is a need for an environmentally-controlled network interface device that still provides relatively unfettered access to a provider's personnel.